Wong Hong, who took over as Director General of the Associationof Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) in APR26, says air cargo has emerged as one of the bright spots for the region’s carriers, as they navigate a turbulent year dominated by fuel-price shocks, aircraft delivery delays, and mounting pressure on sustainability targets. Speaking on Aviation Week’s ‘Window Seat’ podcast with Editor-in-Chief, Karen Walker, recently, Wong Hong – formerly Delta Air Lines’ China President and previous senior roles at Singapore Airlines and IATA – illustrated a highly diverse region still expanding but increasingly buffeted by external shocks.
Asia-Pacific is, geographically, an incredibly diverse region, offering a wealth of “market potential that lots of companies, not just the airlines, [are] keenly interested to try and tap. We’re talking about nearly 50% of the world’s middle-class [that] actually resides in Asia-Pacific. And with that kind of potential, that brings about a lot of opportunities for my member airlines to try and serve them,” Wong Hong answers Karen Walker’s opening question on how the Asia-Pacific air transport market differs from other regions. With that diversity comes complexity, Walker reminds, pointing to “lots of different countries mean lots of different governments” which mean continuous change and challenges.
Fuel shock reshapes market activity
Change and challenges have been the leitmotiv this year. Wong Hong describes an image of strong recovery having been interrupted. AAPA recorded roughly 9% traffic growth in 2025, and entered 2026 expecting the momentum to continue. That changed when conflict in the Middle East massively impacted jet fuel prices from MAR26 onwards, raising concerns in some markets about possible fuel shortages. On the passenger side, since ticket revenue on already-booked travel was largely locked in, airlines absorbed the cost spike directly, forcing many to reassess network capacity and pull out of lesser-performing routes. Prices have since eased from peaks of around USD 200 a barrel to a range of roughly USD120–130, but Wong cautioned that volatility remains the defining feature of the year, and second-quarter financial results now emerging will reflect that strain.
That said, passenger demand has held up better than feared despite fare increases tied to fuel surcharges, with summer bookings remaining solid. However, inflation is the next variable to watch, he says, since a broader cost-of-living squeeze could dampen the willingness to pay premium fares that has so far persisted.
Cargo strong amid turmoil
Walker asks about the cargo situation: “That’s a very key part across Asia Pacific. A lot of the airlines there started with cargo and have a long history. What’s going on in the cargo side?” While passenger operations have absorbed the brunt of this year’s cost pressures, Wong responds that cargo results have been “more impressive”, with AAPA member airlines reporting a “pretty healthy” first-half growth of around 7%, year-on-year. He attributes the momentum largely to resilient manufacturing and semiconductor activity across Asia, noting that supply chains have adapted to ongoing U.S. tariffs by shifting production and routing patterns. China, he said, remains central to that manufacturing base despite the trade friction. Walker draws a parallel to the pandemic era, when cargo similarly cushioned airlines against passenger-side disruption, to which Wong agrees, calling cargo a “saving grace” for the industry.
Supply chain bottlenecks persist
On aircraft and engine deliveries, Wong said conditions have not meaningfully improved, with delivery slippage of up to two years in some cases and component-level shortages continuing to affect airlines unevenly. Some carriers have found modest relief only because capacity cuts driven by the fuel crisis have temporarily eased pressure on aging fleets kept in service longer than planned. He noted that continued aircraft ordering signals long-term confidence in regional demand, even as it adds to an already substantial backlog.
Sustainability goals under pressure
Sustainable aviation fuel remains, in Wong’s words, an issue that is important without being urgent – one requiring governments, fuel producers, customers and other stakeholders to share the cost burden rather than leaving airlines alone to absorb SAF prices, which he confirmed are two to four times higher than conventional jet fuel. AAPA has set an aspirational 5% SAF target, which Wong acknowledged will be difficult to reach, given current supply constraints, though he pointed to Thailand and Japan as examples of governments taking a more active coordinating role. He also voiced concern that new European Commission proposals could fragment global alignment around ICAO’s CORSIA framework.
The outlook for 2026 – including an anniversary
In AAPA’s press release from 05AUG26, Wong Hong states: “Airlines continue to face challenging operating conditions, with persistent uncertainty surrounding the Middle East conflict contributing to fuel price volatility and continued pressure on operating costs. These headwinds, together with more moderate business confidence and heightened geopolitical and trade policy uncertainty, may temper growth in travel and air cargo markets in the coming months. Against this backdrop, carriers remain focused on maintaining network flexibility, exercising capacity discipline, and enhancing operational efficiency in response to evolving demand patterns.”
In the podcast, Wong points to AAPA’s annual Assembly of Presidents in NOV26, which will mark the association’s 60th anniversary. Sustainability, safety – including emerging concerns over lithium battery power banks on board aircraft – and continued supply-chain constraints are expected to dominate the agenda, alongside a broader conversation about the region’s long-term growth trajectory and the role of artificial intelligence in shaping the industry’s next phase.
“AAPA has come a long way and [in NOV26] we will be celebrating our 60th year as an association for the region, so we’re really excited to have everybody come together to reflect [and] celebrate [what] has already been achieved over the past 60 years. And we’re also looking forward because I’m also excited, as the airlines gather, to try and see how the Asia-Pacific region gets redefined simply because, as I mentioned earlier, there’s tremendous growth potential in the middle to long term. There’s also a lot of resilience that you see as a result of overcoming crisis after crisis, and we certainly hope there will be less of it, but we can be quite sure there will be still some more obstacles along the way,” he concludes.
